A Fall and a Rise
by KnavishSprite
Summary: Can seven years of love overcome many years of bitter hate? Dark romance with elements of adventure, and comedy. My first story, tell me how awful it is, so I can fix that.
1. General Prologue the First

This is a tale of a land, where the slain may live, where every hero and villain from every story ever told, every saga ever written down, will live, and have every adventure ever dreamed. This a tale, of a dark love built from deception, built on omitted truths, with no reason behind it, no motive pushing it onward. This land was a continent named Draconia, with no ships sailing too far from it, nobody asking what went on beyond their land. The way to go across was by air, if you were powerful enough, and could be bothered to do so. There were seven kingdoms, each with their own specialty.

The kingdom of Terary, was focused on leadership by proof under battle. There had been seven civil wars in that kingdom. Terary had the finest soldiers. Not because of zealism, but from the honour code that existed among them. If you had enough money, and enough resources, you could pay them to aid in your battles. The lord of Terary was Jonathan Hart the first. He was honourable, and had a code of morality, that, while it wasn't entirely perfect, was fine. Both men and women of Terary fought on the field.

King Jaspheous ruled the kingdom of Servaniyl. Servaniyl was the place where more crops grew than any other land. It was also the top place to invade, until King Jonathan made an alliance, firstfruits for protection from invasion. Servaniyl was humble, and also very peaceful. It did trade with the kingdom of Vermalys, the trading kingdom. Vermalys was different from the other kingdoms in that it was ruled by a triumvirate of dukes. The Dukes William and Alexander, and the Duchess Drusilla. Duke William was the first cousin of King Jonathan, Duke Alexander was the trusted friend of King Jaspheous's daughter Willow, and Duchess Drusilla was Duke William's mistress, but sat around pining for Baron Liam.

Baron Liam watched over Ameldiyn for the young Queen Elizabeth, who was the daughter of the late King Rupert, and was known simply as Buffy. Ameldiyn was the storehouse of knowledge, and had the wisest people in the land. However, if the young queen had her way, it would be ruled by someone else instead. She sat around making calf eyes at Baron Liam.

King Jaxon, known as Jack to all he slept with, and that was many, ruled a land, which blossomed with magic. Indeed, at times it was very bothersome, as that magic, kept on plucking people from different kingdoms, and depositing them there. But the foreign princess that had once came long ago from across the seas, had blessed, or cursed, nobody was certain which, Jack with immortality. Something about wanting someone to babysit that odd magic.

A large island, twenty-six miles from King Jack's kingdom, was the property of Lord Harper, who was called such because it was hardly a kingdom. The island, known as Goodfellow's Blessing, had popped out of nowhere, and commandeered a leadership. Lord Harper was more than happy to lead it. His half-brother, Lord Jones, was known as the fool who fell for another male, this being King Jaxon. Goodfellow's Blessing was, as things went, the only kingdom to not border Dragonhall.

Dragonhall was a upheaval of land, that was likened to an obscenely big mountain, that housed, as it's name probably has already told you, Dragons. From a bird's eye view, it looked a bit like a tree stump, with thick roots running out of it.

This tale is about two people, one familiar to you, and the other a stranger. This newcomer lived in Terary, and you will soon see a brief overview of her young life, in order for you to understand a bit more of her.


	2. General Prologue the Second

Her name was Aurora. One of her favourite things to do was listen, as her father told stories by the fire, of trolls that would sit on you, of goblins that would enslave you, of history, like the battles fought, and glory sought. Of the nobility and honour of their king, of his victories proven. Her father was once a general, and had been at a few of these.

There were tales of imps, that would surround a child that fell down thorough one of their imp-holes and gobble them up, tales of magic, tales of of Goodfellow's Blessing, and it's lord, talking of King Jaxon, the immortal watcher over the wild, wily, magic of his kingdom, that would steal you from your bed, and dump you out on some nameless street. And then there were Aurora's favourite. These were the tales of Dragonhall, of the great dragons, destroyers, and wise advisors.

But usually her parents noticed her on birthdays and Christmas, and spent other days keeping an eye on her five brothers, who were very mischievous. Aurora had a sister, who was married to a colonel in the Great Teraran Army.

Aurora never minded the lack of attention. She would run off alone to the woods, and when she got there she would reach, and break off a branch, then practice swordsmanship with it. She loved archery, and when she was eight, her father gave her a small bow that she could use to practice.

Of course, her inquisitive brothers soon found out. They teased her a bit, as she was rather short, but they also provided aid, in the form of practice opponents for the blade, and in archery, straw popinjays that they tied to strings and caused movement. She wasn't always at her best, and it took a while for her to get a hold of a wooden sword, which much improved her learning tempo. Aurora was better at the sword, but she cared a great deal about archery.

When she was fourteen, her mother sent her to a finishing school. This being Terary, the art of the sword, and the art of the bow was taught alongside grammar, etiquette, and Servanian, the language of Servaniyl, oft used in towns near the border, as her home was. At fifteen she became one of the top twenty-five swords-ladies. At sixteen, she was runner-up in a cross country race. At seventeen, she wandered off, and was never heard of again by the school, at least in a direct way.


	3. Why Impholes are Annoying

When she wandered off from school, she didn't know that she wasn't going to go back. Her thought when she wandered off, was to make it just a flower-picking walk, and that she'd come back with a lovely bouquet. There was a small hilly area where lovely wildflowers grew. It was enclosed by a rickety wooden fence, barely holding together. She had been there many times, and everyone who cared, which was few, marveled at the flowers she brought back.

Today, she was bored, after sitting through a long and pointless lecture. In fact, the only reason she attended was because they gave out a few copper pieces. So after picking a few flowers, her heart not really into it, she actually looked beyond the fence, a stunningly lovely apple tree. She loved apple blossoms, for their sweet fragrance, and simple beauty. They would make the perfect finish to her bouquet.

After looking around some more, to see if there was a gate, or a note saying "Keep Out!", she hopped over the fence, and into a more bleak area. There weren't as many wildflowers, but there was that tree. If she had been looking around, and watching where she stepped, she would have notice a mass of leaves. In fall, that would not have been so unusual, but it was spring, and therefore, suspicious. But her good sense was ignored, in favour of the sweet smell of apple blossoms, and off Aurora walked, towards the tree.

She walked right over the leaves and slid down a small hole, saying words that would have gotten her wrist slapped back at the academy. Fortunately, it was not long before she was spat out of its end. It was a imp-hole, something she knew from the tales her father told her. Imps are hungry little buggers who will eat anything if its alone and not dangerous. But there were no imps to greet her. Something must have happened to them. With that disturbing thought, she picked her self up, and dusted off her breeches. There was a small tunnel, and after checking if she could get back up the imp-hole, she went thorough the tunnel, worried about what might greet her.

At the end, there was a sort of light, gold mixed with an ominous red. When she arrived, she found that the red light came from beyond a stone archway, but beyond their, she could not see anything but a smoky haze. The gold light came from a droopy candle, held by an equally droopy man, surrounded by a ragged bunch of people. There were about twenty or thirty there. They looked starved, and Aurora would have felt sorry for them, if she wasn't so mad about being dumped down a hole.

"Who are you, why are you 'ere, and where is out? Better hurry up and make the answer snappy, as I'm not in a good mood." Startled, it took a bit for them to react beyond jumping, but when Aurora started tapping her foot, a scrawny boy stepped forward.

"Miss, we're here because of that imp-trap around the tree up there. If there was a safe way out, we would have gone already, in search of food. Do you have any?" And he looked so hopeful, and yet so sad.

She ignored the boy's question, and instead pointed toward the archway. "So, that's too unsafe for you nances to go through? That's a coward's words." And with that she started towards the archway. The entire group immediately protested and grabbed for her, a collective holler of no startling them all. The droopy man said, "That way lies the dragon, and you don't want to brave him."

By now, Aurora was feeling spiteful, and furious at being grabbed at like she was a roast pig. "Well, maybe I don't want to be die when you go cannibal, and chomp down on me, acting no better than that dragon." Giving strength to her courage was the memory of the stories she used to listen to. She had always loved dragons, and longed to see one, even if she ended up being dinner.

She glanced at her clothing: dark shirt, dark breeches, black boots. Yep, she had at least a 25 percent chance to sneak out unnoticed. Then she noticed the warmth of the air, giving credence to their tale of a dragon being around.

The boy from before spoke up. "He usually gets us by sticking his claw in here, and stabbing someone, then pulling them out. It would be better to die like this, with bravery and honour." Some people looked up at the word honour, but others shook their head. They had been here the longest, and had given up hope. "My name is Coulan. I'll give you all the aid possible."

"Coulan, I appreciate that you're trying to help, but maybe I should do this on my own. Besides, you're what, nine, ten? You're just going to hinder me. Sorry." Aurora informed Coulan. This twerp wanted to see her dragon? No way. She was determined to keep that dragon for her eyes alone to gaze at, before hurrying on her way. Due to being overlooked so often she had forgotten that dragons see all things, unless these things use magic to hide. That and a slight bit of egomania, pushed her towards that stone archway, and to a very much awake dragon, Coulan following warily.


End file.
